Hamlet The Central Dilemma

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tragedy dilemma. This central issue is the seed that has spawned the generation of the other themes of the play. Hamlet’s father has been murdered in cold blood by the scheming and adulterous Claudius by pouring poison into King Hamlet’s ear while he slept, in order to succeed him to the throne. A ghost in the form of Hamlet’s father appears to Hamlet, revealing to him that the King of Denmark is corrupt and a murderer, and that he must revenge his death. However the ghost was very specific in saying that he must revenge his death without implicating his mother, or corrupting himself.

“Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive
Against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven”
-Act I Scene 5.

The circumstances surrounding the death of his father, and his discovery of the fact through meeting with the ghost, are the reasons for his apparent paralysis of the mind. Hamlet has many issues to face here, the first being the question of ethics ...

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for Hamlet’s inaction is his uncertainty of the ghost’s true motives. He does not know for certain whether it is really the ghost of his father, or a spirit of another kind.

“ … the spirit I have seen
May be a de’il, and the de’il hath power
T’ assume a pleasing shape”
Act II Scene 2

As a result of being unsure of the ghost’s true motives, he is unsure of Claudius’ guilt. He cannot bring himself to act on the ghost’s words until he is certain that Claudius is guilty. A common feature of the Elizabethan revenge tragedy was that the avenger must wait until a public opportunity appears to prove the ...

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